Todays "Forgotten Fullback" is Stuart Parnaby. The twenty eight year old fullback was born in Durham which is situated in the North East of England and started his career at Middlesbrough F.C. He started at their academy before working his way through the system before being handed his debut in the League Cup against Macclesfield Town in September 2000. Middlesbrough incidentally is the club that his dad coaches the youth team and has brought through talents such as Stuart Downing, Adam Johnson, Andrew Davies, David Wheater, Brad Jones, and his own son into the first team.
Parnaby has since moved on and is actually part of the Birmingham City squad, but did you know this? I certainly didn't until I turned on the TV and there I saw Stuart Parnaby playing right back for Birmingham in the FA Cup. I then started to think about what I remember about Stuart Parnaby? Well he was always up for sale on the PC game 'Football Manager', he lost his place to an older Abel Xavier and Andrew Davies which cant be a great feeling, and that his dad produced a lot of good young talent for Middlesbrough F.C. Would he stand out in league 1?I don't think so but to be fair the lad has made a lot of money out of the game of football, plied his trade at the top level for most of his career, and appeared in a UEFA Cup final . Carrying on this positivity I would have loved a career like Stuarts, he played in a great youth team, earned alot of money, can live the life he wants to lead without the media or money troubles, and played/plays at grounds such as Old Trafford, Highbury, Stamford Bridge, and many across Europe.
So here is an example of the very average footballer.........and we should celebrate him!
Stuart Parnaby everyone!
I see your point, there's nothing wrong with being an average footballer when average is A. ten times better than the general playing population and B. allows you to live life as the professional we all dreamed to live as kids. Tip of the hat to all the so called 'average' footballers!
ReplyDelete